Page 6

6

Elias

W hat the hell am I doing?

The thought whispers through my mind, but it’s a fleeting shadow against the fire roaring inside me. I should stop—God knows I should—but I can’t. Not when her lips are parting for me, soft and inviting, like she’s been waiting for this as long as I have. A low, guttural moan escapes me as I slide my tongue into the warmth of her mouth, tasting her in a way I’ve only dreamed of.

Her hands find their way around my body, fingers spreading across my back in a slow, deliberate exploration. My muscles clench under her touch, restraint a thing of the past. She slides her hands higher, gripping my shoulders, testing the thickness of my muscles with her fingertips before going higher to mess with my hair.

“Taylor,” I murmur against her lips, testing the sound of her name on my tongue, and wondering if it would come out huskier if we were between the sheets. I pull her closer and her small frame melts as I practically lift her off the floor, holding her impossibly tighter against my aching body.

The room spins, or maybe it’s me, drunk on the feel of her. My hands glide lower, following the curve of her waist, anchoring on the small of her back just above that tantalizing dip of her hips. A warning bell dings faintly in the back of my mind, a last-ditch effort from the voice of reason. Not too far, it cautions. But my body doesn’t seem to care.

A sharp noise from outside—a car backfiring maybe—snaps through the haze, and I force myself to pull back, gasping as if I’ve surfaced from drowning. Her lips are swollen from my kiss, her chest rising and falling with ragged breaths that mirror my own. She looks up at me through fluttering lashes, her half-lidded eyes filled with a mix of wonder and uncertainty that punches the air from my lungs.

I brush the backs of my fingers along her cheek, marveling at the softness of her skin. “Hey,” I whisper, my voice rough with want.

“What... what was that for?” Her voice is breathless, shaky, and it’s all I can do not to crush her against me again.

I steal a glance at my door, suddenly feeling like a teenager again, about to get caught with Suzanne in my room. But this isn’t some teenage crush in my arms. This is Taylor. My best friend’s younger sister.

Off limits.

“I thought I saw Grandma in the hall,” I lie, my voice weak even to my own ears. As I struggle to pull myself together, my tongue sweeps over my bottom lip, wanting another taste of her.

She frowns slightly, her head tilting toward the door. “I didn’t see anyone.”

Before she can look, I gently grip her chin, guiding her focus back to me. “She’s gone now.”

Her eyes search mine, lingering for a moment, before she nods. “Oh... okay.”

Playing it light, I smirk. “I guess at some point, we have to act like we’re a real couple, right? Thought now was as good a time as any.” My eyes flick toward the door again, even though I know Grandma isn’t there.

Taylor tilts her head, her laughter low and husky, a sound that does dangerous things to me. “Why are you acting like you’re about to get caught with Suzanne in your room?” She laughs, but it’s deep, and full of arousal.

Arousal…

Jesus, that means she liked my kiss. Fuck, I shouldn’t feel so goddamn happy about that.

I force a laugh. “It’s funny. I was just thinking the same thing.”

Her eyebrow quirks, her smile turning sly. “You were thinking about Suzanne while kissing me?” she challenges. “Nice, Elias.” I’m about to tell her no, that I haven’t thought about another girl since meeting her, but stop when she pokes my chest, and maybe it’s better she doesn’t know that. “No need to be nervous about getting caught. We’re allowed to kiss. Grandma expects it.”

Yeah, but her brother would kill me.

“Okay,” I manage, but my thoughts veer toward my grandmother. How the hell did she even know about Suzanne? She has this uncanny way of knowing everything that happens in this house, and the idea of her discovering the truth about Taylor and me twists my stomach. I’d never want to hurt or disappoint my grandmother.

“I guess I didn’t think we’d have to put on a show,” I add, running a hand through my hair, trying to smooth the chaos in my mind. “Are you upset about the kiss?” The second the words leave my mouth, I cringe. Way to go fishing, dude. “I know this whole thing was so last minute and we didn’t think it through.”

“Good thing I learned how to improvise in acting classes.” She crinkles her nose in thought. “You could use a few lessons though.”

I chuckle despite myself. “You are good at improvising.” And she is. Thinking back to dinner, I realize she wasn’t winging it with my family. She was honest, genuine, and that’s why they fell for her. Hell, that’s why I fell for her.

Oh, God, what am I even saying?

“But yeah,” I admit, “I might need a few lessons. Maybe you could help a guy out.”

Her gaze flickers to the bed, and my breath catches. What the fuck? What the hell is she thinking and if she is thinking I need lessons in bed, I’d like to show her that she’s mistaken—with my hands, my mouth and my cock.

“Taylor?” I ask, my voice rougher than I intended.

Her eyes snap back to mine. “Yeah,” she says, her voice soft as her lashes flash erratically. “I can help you out.”

For a long moment we just stand there staring at each other, heat arcing between us. I finally clear my throat, and jerk my thumb toward the door, desperate for a distraction. “We should probably hit the pool.”

“Okay,” she murmurs, but she doesn’t move.

“I need to cool off,” I add, regretting it the second it slips out. Great. Real smooth.

With a nod, I gesture toward the bathroom, needing her away from me before I take her to that bed and show her the one place I don’t need improvisation lessons. “Go get changed,” I order, my tone firmer, harder than intended, and I note the little intake of air, the heat in her cheeks. This woman hates to be bossed around, so what the hell was that all about?

I give my head a good hard shake to clear it and when the bathroom door clicks shut, I tear off my clothes and tug on my swim trunks. Before she comes from the bathroom, I hurry to the spare room, grab the extra pillows on the bed, and step back into my room, ready to make a pillow wall for later.

Except she walks from the bathroom in a bathing suit that showcases her gorgeous body and the pillows fall from my hands. “Oh, shit.” I bend to grab them, nearly snapping my thickening dick off, and when I groan in pain, she hurries to help me.

“Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”

“I’m good,” I assure her in a high-pitched voice that has her angling her head to assess me. “I grabbed some pillows for later.”

“Good plan.” She picks them up and tosses them onto the bed. I avert my gaze, and try not to stare at her body. “Do you think I could borrow one of your T-shirts? I don’t want to walk through the house in a bathing suit.”

I clear my throat. “Yeah, sure. I have some old ones in here. Smaller than what I brought from Boston.”

“You were smaller at some point?”

The teasing hint in her voice strokes my dick. “When I was like eight,” I joke in return and pull out an old Nickelback T-shirt. “Mom kept all my stuff.”

“Your room is like a shrine.”

“I’m a very special boy, Taylor. Just ask Grandma.”

She laughs out loud and the sound curls through me. “I don’t need to ask Grandma. I knew it the first time I met you.”

I eye her, not sure what she’s getting at, but my brain stops working when she lifts her arms and tugs on my shirt. It falls mid-thigh. “You were a Nickelback fan?”

“Chad doesn’t get enough credit,” I shoot back.

She holds her hands up. “Okay, your secret is safe with me.” Before I can catch myself, I throw my arm around her, and rub my knuckles on her head, having seen her brother do it numerous times. Although when she squirms, laughs and gut punches me, this wrestling feels nothing at all like sibling rivalry and more like foreplay.

Jesus, what am I doing now?

I let her go, and her face is flushed, her eyes bright with laughter as she smooths her hands over her hair. “Great, Grandma’s going to think we’ve been ‘working’ up here,” she says with an eye roll.

My God, she’s so fucking gorgeous.

“Yeah,” I manage, my voice a little strained as I try to dispel the image her words conjure. “Let me grab some towels.” I duck into the bathroom, needing the reprieve for just a second, and when I come back, she’s checking something on her phone, her brows knitting together.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

She frowns. “I sent Kalen a message a while ago to see how things are going with Sahara, but I haven’t heard back from him.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” I suggest, leaning against the doorframe.

She nods, her frown softening into a small smile. “I think they make a cute couple.”

“They are. Sahara’s good for him. He’s way less grumpy lately.”

“And he’s paying less attention to me, which is definitely a good thing,” she says with a grin, making her way to the door. I follow her down the stairs, the sound of our steps echoing in the house.

“Wait,” I say, glancing at her with a smirk. “Have you been trying to get them together just to get him off your back?”

She stops at the bottom step, placing a hand on her chest and feigning innocence. “Who, me?”

“Yeah, you,” I laugh, placing my hand lightly on the small of her back. My dick twitches and I work to ignore it as I steer her toward the hall.

She grins, her eyes gleaming with mischief. “Okay, maybe just a little. But come on, you see how good they are together. I bet Sahara’s thrilled he changed his plans to join her.”

The sound of dishes clinking in the kitchen echoes faintly through the hall as we make our way toward the back patio. Taylor pauses, a little crease of guilt forming between her brows. “I feel bad for not helping with cleanup.”

Of course, she does. That’s Taylor—always sweet, especially with my family. Although back home, she’d happily hand her clean-up nights over to me.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say. “We’ll tackle all the Thanksgiving dishes.”

She nods, liking that idea as I open the patio door and flick on the pool lights. A soft glow washes over the water, and Taylor gasps, stepping closer.

“So pretty,” she murmurs, taking in a deep breath. “It’s like our own little oasis.”

“It’s heated,” I tell her, watching as she moves to the edge of the pool and dips a toe in.

She pulls back quickly, frowning. “It feels cold.”

“It is if you do that,” I say, already moving.

“What am I supposed to?—”

Before she can finish, I run and leap, tucking my legs up for a cannonball. The water explodes around me, and when I surface, Taylor is standing there, drenched, her mouth open in a perfect O of indignation.

“Elias!” she yells, her voice full of outrage. “That was somean.”

“It’s the only way to get in,” I say, laughing as I shake the water from my hair.

“I’m not doing a cannonball,” she huffs, crossing her arms as she glares at me.

I gesture toward the stairs with a nod. “Suit yourself. But it’s a lot harder to get in inch by inch.”

Jesus Christ, what did I just say?

Taylor’s eyes narrow, her lips twitching as if she’s fighting a grin. “Maybe I prefer inch by inch,” she says, her voice low and teasing.

Jesus, what did she just say?

With my gaze locked on her, I watch the way her hips sway as she walks to the stairs. I follow her, swimming lazily closer. She dips her toes into the first step and winces.

“Told you so,” I call out.

She shoots me a glare over her shoulder. “All this time, and I didn’t realize you were one of them .”

“One of them?” I feign confusion.

“A person who says, ‘I told you so’.”

I chuckle. “When I’m right, I’m right, Taylor.”

She rolls her eyes and steps deeper into the pool, wincing again at the chill. “You mean when you’re obnoxious, you’re obnoxious.”

“Aww, I’m sorry. Let me apologize properly.” I spread my arms wide, water dripping off me, and start toward her.

Her eyes widen, and she throws her hands up. “Don’t youdarecome any closer, Elias.”

I keep moving, grinning like a fool, and she glares at me, shooting daggers my way. “But I just want to hug it out,” I tease.

“Elias, don’t!” she yells, a laugh bubbling up despite herself. “Okay, okay! I’m getting in.”

Seconds before I reach her, she hurries down the stairs, shrieking with laughter as she dives into the water.

I dive in after her, surfacing beside her. “Nice, huh?”

“Yes,” she admits, flicking water at me. “But I would’ve preferred to get in my way.”

“You don’t like doing things my way, T?” I ask, my voice dipping just slightly. Even to my ears, it sounds way too suggestive.

Her breath hitches for a fraction of a second, and even in the dim glow of the pool lights, I see the spark in her eyes. Christ, how are we ever going to make it through this weekend... or even tonight?

She doesn’t answer me, though. Instead, she dives under the water and swims to the deep end. When she surfaces, she flips onto her back, floating peacefully.

“This is glorious,” she murmurs, her voice soft, almost dreamy. “Did you use the pool a lot as a kid?”

“Every chance I got.”

She smiles, her face turned up to the night sky. “I’m so happy your new house has a pool. It’s going to be perfect.”

I flip onto my back, floating beside her, my gaze drifting to the stars scattered across the dark sky. “Too bad we won’t be able to use it in November.”

We.

Look at me, acting like this is more than what it is. Like we’re really a couple, planning a together for the future.

Our bodies drift closer, and when my hand brushes hers, it’s instinctive—the way my fingers curl around hers, lacing together. Her touch is warm, her hand fitting so naturally in mine, and I swear the pool heats a few degrees from the rush of warmth spreading through me.

For a long moment, we stay like that, floating together in silence, the quiet night wrapping around us.

“Maybe you should get a hot tub,” she says suddenly, her voice playful. “So, we can have winter activities too.”

I chuckle, squeezing her hand. “Not sure I’ll have time to use it much with my hockey schedule.”

“Yeah, but I will,” she teases, laughing softly.

I grin and make a mental note to look into hot tubs when I get home. Because if Taylor wants one, how could I possibly say no?

We stay like that, fingers intertwined, until the cool night air finally wins. Her teeth start to chatter, and I tug her gently toward the edge.

“We should get out,” I say.

“This was fun.” Her voice is light but tired. “But now I need a long, hot shower.”

“A shower… and then bed,” I say, my voice low, almost a command.

In the stillness of the night, her throat makes a gurgling sound as she swallows. “Yeah,” she murmurs, her voice softer now. “Bed.”

“Bed,” I echo, the word lingering between us and teasing my cock.

She glances at me, her lips twitching. “Acting like we’re a real couple.”

I tilt my head, a smirk on my lips. “Without the direct benefits.” Her eyes spark with something I can’t identify. A challenge? Curiosity? Maybe both. Before I can stop myself, the words are out there: “Unless…you think…”